568 
SCOTT'S LAST EXPEDITION 
[Fkbkuary 
God the wind holds to-morrow. Short sleep to-night and 
off first thing, I hope. 
Monday y February 12. — R. 26. In a very critical 
situation. All went well in the forenoon, and wc did a 
good long march over a fair surface. Two hours before 
lunch wc were cheered by the sight of our night camp of 
the 1 8th December, the day after we made our depot — this 
showed wc were on the right track. In the afternoon, 
refreshed by tea, wc went forward, confident of covering 
the remaining distance, but by a fatal chance wc kept too 
far to the left, and then wc struck uphill and, tired and 
despondent, arrived in a horrid maze of crevasses and 
fissures. Divided councils caused our course to be erratic 
after this, and finally, at 9 p.m. we landed in the worst place 
of all. After discussion wc decided to camp, and here 
wc are, after a very short supper and one meal only 
remaining in the food bag ; the depot doubtful in locality. 
We must get there to-morrow. Meanwhile wc arc cheerful 
with an effort. It's a tight place, but luckily we've been 
well fed up to the present. Pray God wc have fine weather 
to-morrow. 
[At this point the bearings of the mid-glacier depot 
are given, but need not be quoted.] 
Tuesday, February 13.— Camp R. 27, beside Cloud- 
maker. Temp. - io°. Last night we all slept well in spite 
of our grave anxieties. For my part these were increased 
by my visits outside the tent, when I saw the sky gradually 
closing over and snow beginning to fall. By our ordinary 
time for getting up it was dense all around us. Wc could 
see nothing, and wc could only remain in our sleeping-bags. 
